I have just picked up what appears to be a Death's-head Hawk-moth pupa lying in the middle of a path. It appears undamaged externally although I expect it is probably dead. The path is not far from where I usually grow potatoes but I have no idea how it got to where it was.
I will keep it "just in case". I think it probably spent a very cold night on the surface so I don't have any great hopes. I have discovered that a tractor with a spiked roller was run along the path where I found it so it may have been unearthed by this. Some years ago I did find an empty pupa case in my potato patch which perhaps suggested that that one had actually survived and emerged as an adult.
What an odd find. It does look undamaged so it would be worth hanging on to "just in case".
ReplyDeleteI will keep it "just in case". I think it probably spent a very cold night on the surface so I don't have any great hopes. I have discovered that a tractor with a spiked roller was run along the path where I found it so it may have been unearthed by this. Some years ago I did find an empty pupa case in my potato patch which perhaps suggested that that one had actually survived and emerged as an adult.
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